Laura Bush's values, image and opinions are not just fodder for fashion magazines or Beltway buzz about whether she supports abortion rights or disagrees with her husband's opposition to embryonic stem-cell research. They could become an important part of the campaign as voters compare the wives of the two candidates.

Whether they keep working, quit or go part time, many women are choosing to have three children large families by today's standards. American women have an average of two children (2.013 to be exact) and had fewer than two just 15 years ago. During most of the 1970s and 1980s, women averaged 1.7 to 1.9.